


Mountain and the Sea

by layna_lass



Series: Bughead Missing Moments [2]
Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: 1x03, Blue & Gold, Canon, F/M, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-02
Updated: 2017-09-02
Packaged: 2018-12-22 18:44:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,053
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11973399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/layna_lass/pseuds/layna_lass
Summary: ❝ you can move me if you want toyou can move everything ❞In which Jughead finds that he is very bad at saying no to Betty Cooper (and doesn't think that's a good thing)





	Mountain and the Sea

To say that Jughead is not used to getting texts is an understatement. This is mostly because he finds texting frustrating (and maybe partly because he only has one friend). His phone is pretty beat up, and trying to summarize his thoughts into the 160 character limit is frustrating to say the least. Plus, autocorrect really pisses him off sometimes.

So when his text notification goes off during lunch and the name "Betty" appears on-screen, he's surprised... but pleasantly so. That night at the diner sparked memories he didn't know he still had, of days when it used to be Jughead, Archie, and Betty. Little things, like eating the pickles off her burger for her (she hated pickles), or the two of them exchanging looks over Archie's head when he was really being a moron. It's funny the way kids remember the world.

She was a good friend. He kind of misses her. 

So despite the fact that he's still hungry and he's pretty sure Betty wants something from him that he may or may not like (and unless she's changed a lot over the past year, she's very hard to say no to), when he reads  _meet me at the old b &g offices??, _he picks up his bag and heads for the school newspaper's division.

She's standing in the room, which looks as if it hasn't seen a living soul in two decades, poking around the old computers and printers. The technology is ancient, and the air is so thick with dust he can _see_ it. Honestly, the place is a dump. Good thing neither of them have asthma.

Jughead leans against the doorframe, and she must hear his movement because she turns to face him. The look in her eyes confirms his earlier suspicions--he's in for some trouble.

He crosses his arms. "If print journalism is dead, what am I doing here?"

She clasps her hands together and smiles at him. "The  _Blue & Gold _isn't dead, Juggie. It's just..." She runs a finger over the desk, which displaces an entire inch of dust. "Dormant." Then she adds hopefully, "But waking up."

There's a weirdly shaped jar full of random tools sitting on one of the tables. He risks wandering further into her trap and picks up a magnifying glass, turning it over in his hands. At _least_ 80% dust.

"You're writing a novel, right?" she asks.

Jughead looks up at her, surprised.

Her eyes are wide, curious. "About Jason Blossom's murder?"

How does she know about that? It's not exactly a secret, but it's not common knowledge either.

Somewhat begrudgingly, he admits, "I am." Then he lifts his magnifying glass to her, getting a blurry blend of year-old grime and Betty's red/pink shirt. "Riverdale's very own  _In Cold Blood._ "

"Which started out as a series of articles," she informs him, in a voice that's already coaxing despite the fact that she hasn't even asked him for anything yet. When he doesn't say anything, she takes a deep breath and gives him a hopeful smile that's pretty damn cute. He's toast.

"I'm hoping you'll come write for the _Blue & Gold_," she says haltingly, running her hand over the computer with a weird sort of fondness.

He screws up one side of his mouth, skeptical. "I... just don't think the school paper's the right fit for my voice." Which sounds more polite than  _hell no._

She gives a little huff that's not angry, but warns him that she's about to pull out all her Powers of Persuasion. "Juggie..." Her hands clench briefly into fists, and he's taken off guard by the sudden passion that tenses up her frame, as she searches for the right words. "Jason's death changed Riverdale." She gives an 'it's-a-fact' sort of shrug. "People don't want to admit that, but it's true. We all feel it."

The words are so close to what he's been writing that he gets a sense of deja vu.

Drawing a little nearer, Betty turns her words soft and whispery. "Nothing this bad was ever supposed to happen here, but it did." Then she looks him straight in the eye, her face steely with determination. "I want to know why."

Her passion is infectious. He can already feel himself losing ground on his stance. When she talks like that, her words are honey to poor, unsuspecting flies. But he's not going down with at least a bit of a fight.

He gives her a look that's the visual equivalent of a huff. "Would I get complete freedom?"

"I'll... help," she stammers. Then, "and edit."

He narrows his eyes at her.

"And suggest." She quickly continues, "But it's your story, it's your voice."

He rolls his eyes, smirking. Of course Betty will be the hands-on type of editor. "Doesn't  _sound_ like complete freedom... but..." He takes a breath, makes her wait a moment. "I'm in."

The smile that rewards this statement is a level of brilliance he is not prepared for. Betty clasps her hands together again, looking so happy that his grievances and reluctance fade away. "Okay, great! Um..." She looks down for a moment, thoughtful, and then looks back up. "In that case, I have your first assignment."

He raises his eyebrows. He's listening.

"There's one person who was at the river on July 4th that no one's talking about," she says, leaning against the desk.

He's nodding before she's even finished, having had the same thought. "Dilton Doiley and his scouts."

"Exactly." She points her index finger at him in a 'you-know-what-to-do' kind of way. Already, they feel like a team.

With a half-grin, he rubs his thumb against his nose. Jughead Jones is on the case.

 

___________________________

 

It's only when he's halfway out the school that he realizes what he's gotten himself into. He's signed up for an  _extracurricular._ That requires working with  _people._ _Strangers,_ even (Betty hadn't mentioned anyone else but he's pretty sure it takes more than two people to run a newspaper). His work, his haunting narrative on the balance of light and darkness, is going to be distributed among the muscle-headed Neanderthals of this archaic backwater society who can't even  _spell_ nuance, let alone appreciate it.

_And I never even finished my lunch._

Blonde girls with cute smiles should not be so passionate about things. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you'll check out (and enjoy) my other works in the "Bughead Missing Moments" series. I'll be writing more of these unnoticed/unmentioned scenes, and if you guys have any ideas, feel free to comment below ;) Songspiration for this is "Mountain and the Sea" by Ingrid Michaelson.


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